The Very Best of Tower of Power: The Warner Years (2001) more music like this

by Tower of Power

Usually, it's not a good sign if a band is generally known for augmenting artists instead of their own records, but Tower of Power was really a very good horn section, and they did make records that held their own. Of course, "What Is Hip?" was the biggest single they ever had, but they also had several other smaller hits that captured their sleek ...

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East Bay Grease (1970) more music like this

by Tower of Power

The first Tower of Power album, when the band was only honing its concept and seeking a lead singer. On some songs, notably "Sparkling in the Sand," you can hear the group beginning to come together. They already had a fine horn section, and were only some good arrangements away from becoming one of the best pop and soul bands in the nation. The ...

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Urban Renewal (1975) more music like this

by Tower of Power

Tower of Power was very much in its prime in 1974, when the Bay Area outfit tore up the soul charts with the outstanding Urban Renewal. Lenny Williams, a passionate, wailing, gospel-influenced dynamo of a singer, had joined Tower the previous year, and he worked out remarkably well; whether digging into tough funk or romantic ballads, Williams is ...

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Tower of Power (1973) more music like this

by Tower of Power

The Tower of Power finally found their ideal lead singer on this album. Lenny Williams came aboard and gave them both the up-tempo belter and convincing balladeer they had previously lacked. They landed their biggest single hit, "So Very Hard to Go," and also had two other top tunes in "What Is Hip" and "This Time It's Real." The arrangements and ...

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Soul Vaccination: Live (1999) more music like this

by Tower of Power

The recordings on Soul Vaccination: Live were made during Tower of Power's 1998 tour. It wasn't a reunion tour, since ToP never really went away, but they nevertheless hauled such staples as "What Is Hip," along with selection from latter-day albums. If Soul Vaccination is to be trusted, it was an enjoyable but not particularly noteworthy jaunt ...

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Live and in Living Color (1976) more music like this

by Tower of Power

The band's final album for Warner Bros. before it decamped to Columbia, the absolutely stunning 1975 Live and in Living Color ensured that Tower of Power left in a blaze of glory. Recorded at Sacramento Memorial Auditorium and Cerritos College, the group brought what remains one of the era's finest live albums to glorious fruition. Leaving behind ...

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Eh, Paisano! 100% Italian-American Classics (1997) more music like this

by Various Artists

The concept behind Eh, Paisano! 100% Italian-American Classics -- namely, 18 tracks of pop standards and Italian songs from the '50s and '60s, sung by crooners like Dean Martin, Louis Prima, and Lou Monte -- may be a little cutesy, but it works surprisingly well. Even with tracks by pop acts like Jay & the Americans and Connie Francis, the album ...

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Bump City (1972) more music like this

by Tower of Power

The second Tower of Power LP, Bump City was the first to make any impact. The group went to Memphis, cut their first great single in "You're Still A Young Man," and learned firsthand about funk and soul. The production and arrangements were much improved over the debut album, as was the engineering and overall technical quality. Their lines were ...

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Back to Oakland (1974) more music like this

by Tower of Power

Tower of Power followed their self-titled gold album with an even better album that didn't enjoy similar sales success. Back to Oakland had tougher, funkier and better-produced cuts, stronger vocals from Lenny Williams (who was more comfortable as their lead singer), and included an excellent ballad in "Time Will Tell," and a rousing tempo in "Don ...

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Ain't Nothin' Stoppin' Us Now (1976) more music like this

by Tower of Power

Edward McGee turned in mostly above-average performances on their first post-Lenny Williams release, but it was the beginning of the end for the group. With funk losing its foothold among R&B audiences, they couldn't keep it together. Hearing this on compact disc (and it's not one of Columbia's better mastering jobs) reveals that McGee was an ...

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T.O.P. (1993) more music like this

by Tower of Power

This 1993 effort marked a strong comeback for the group, who started with 1991's Monster on a Leash. T.O.P. continues the formula with great results. The reason for the revitalization can be directly attributed to the energetic, Stevie Wonder-influenced lead singer, Tom Bowes. The hard-driving, James Brown-derived funk of "Soul With a Capital S" ...

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We Came to Play (1978) more music like this

by Tower of Power

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Ancestral Reflections (1999) more music like this

by Frank Emilio

Pianist Frank has recorded, albeit infrequently, in combo settings, and has interpreted the music of Cuban classicist Ernesto Lecuona. For this one he pulls out the entire Afro-Cuban arsenal of rhythms and "son" stylings. Frank features a good mix of clave, rhumba, descarga, romantico, and Latin based pieces with a flair that is not as frantic as ...

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What Is Hip?: The Tower of Power Anthology (1999) more music like this

by Tower of Power

Having played on hundreds of hit records, it was only fitting that this Oakland-based group of studio hornmen should strike out on their own and this two-disc anthology from Rhino captures the ups, downs, ins, and outs of T.O.P.'s 30-year career. In many ways, the group retrospective is not just a document of the group's evolving sound, but a ...

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In the Slot (1975) more music like this

by Tower of Power

In the Slot came off a four-year string of classic singles and albums. As Bump City era lead singer Rick Stevens exited, the phenomenal Lenny Williams replaced him. With Williams, Tower of Power became a hit-making machine as albums like Back to Oakland and Urban Renewal became R&B standards. In the Slot marks the first album of vocalist Hubert ...

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Life Is Good (1995) more music like this

by Emilio

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Monster on a Leash (1991) more music like this

by Tower of Power

In contrast to the many soul veterans who who have turned to urban contemporary sounds in the hope of staying on the staying on the charts, Tower of Power has stuck with the type of horn-driven, live-sounding funk and soul that put the Bay Area band on the map. Tower was long past its prime by the time Monster on a Leash was released in 1991, and ...

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It's on the House (1997) more music like this

by Emilio

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30 Exitos Insuperables (2003) more music like this

by Emilio Navaira

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La Historia [Bonus Tracks] (2004) more music like this

by Emilio Navaira

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Quedate (1996) more music like this

by Emilio

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De Nuevo (2007) more music like this

by Emilio Navaira

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Edicion Limitada (2006) more music like this

by Emilio Navaira

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10 de Coleccion (2007) more music like this

by Emilio Navaira

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The Insight Eye (2007) more music like this

by Illogicist

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